Signaling device



- Nov. '20, 19.28.

B. A. cRENsHAw SIGNALING DEVICE Filed'May 16. 1927 Patented Nov. 20,

BENJAMIN A.

'Caa'NsnAm orv CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SIGNAIING DEVICE.

Application #led Hay 16,

This invention relates to signaling devices ofcharacter commonly used on motor vehicles to indicate to observers, either in adjacent vehicles or pedestrians, the intended operation or movement of the vehicle on which the signal is mounted. The present invention comprises a plurality of signals and lights so arranged that they may be readily observed from either in front ofthe car or at the rear m both in the day or at night.

An object of .the invention is to provide a signaling device which is capable ofk observation from both front and rear of the car in the day as well as at night and which may be l5 controlled by means or mechanism so positioned as to beeasily actuated by the driver of the car.

One of the features of the invention is the provision of a signaling device in the form of ay hand with the index finger extended and a signal light within the cut away central portion of the hand which o crates to illuminate the hand at night to' rendhr it plainly visible. Colored glass or lenses may be provided on opposite sides of the light and overlying the cut away portion so that the signaling hand appears red when viewed from the rear and preferably green when' seen from the front. In practice a pair of such signaling hands usually will be provided, one adapted to be projected fromthe right'side of the car, preferably adjacent to the 'wind shield and one from the 'left side where the car is about to be guided to the right or left, respectively. Operating in conjunction with the. signaling means just above described is a pair of lights at the rear of the car adapted to be illuminated, when the correspondlng handis illuminated to provide an additional signal which i ma be seen from any point at the rear.

`other feature of the invention is unique means provided to prevent the simultaneous dis lay of both sets of signals.

ther features and advantages will a from time to time as the description of t vention progresses'.`

It is believed the further explanation of the invention will -be vunderstood most readily f from a detailed description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which f Fig. 1 is a View of the signaling device as viewed from the yrear of the car, a portion being in section to better illustrate the structure;

1927. Serial No. 191,631.

nating Re erring now to the drawings, in which like reference characters indicate like parts in the several views, 10 indicates a tubular housing preferably of sheet metal adapted to be secured to the instrument board of an automobile by any desiredl means. This housing will occupy a horizontal position, usually ad- 'acent to the upper edge of the instrument o'ard, although on cars of certain construction it may be secured below the upper margin or even to the lower part of the wind shield in some cases. The only requisite is that it be mounted in a substantially horizontal osit-ion in such a manner that the operating andles are within easy reach of the operator of the car. When the device shown in Fig. 1 is mounted on Athe car, the ends will preferably terminate respectively adjacent to the outer edges of the wind shield lidably mounted within the housing 10 is a pair of signal carrying arms 11. Surrounding the adjacent ends of the tubular arms 11 are the spacing sleeves or Acollars 12. The housing 10 has its outer ends 13 reduced in di- A ameter'to form a sliding tit about the arms 11. The housing 10 is provided on the face thereof with aligned slots 14 within which, slide'the bases of handles 15 and 16 secured to the sliding arms 11 by means of bolts or rivets 17. A rod18 extends through a suitable o ening in the base of handle 16 and has its endJ secured within the base of handle 15. iis handle 15 is carried at the outer end of rod Secured to the outer end of each ofthe signal arms 11 in any desired manner is a sig- -naling hand 19. In the present disclosure the v base or wrist portion ofthe. hand is formed as a split sleeve or. collar so adapted to be clamped about the end of arm 11 by means of screw 21. As the signaling devices at the op osite ends of the apparatus are identical on ylone will be described in detail. The hand 19 as the central portion cut away in the Lil orm of ,a hand with the index finger extended as shown at 22. Carried at theend of each 'arm 11 is a lamp socket, not shown in detall,

within which is mounted an incandescent light bulb 23. The outline portion of the hand to covear or shield the hand 19when in its normal position. The housing 26 is formed. with a split sleeve which is secured about thev portion 13 by means of screw 28. Thus it will be seenthat, when in normal position, the hand 19 and parts associated therewith are protected b the housing 26 but when the signal is exten ed, as shown b dotted llneS in Fig. 2, itis clearly visible rom both the front and rear.

Secured in electrical contact with housing 10, by meanso sleeve 30, is a spring contact 31 arranged to be engaged by a contact stud 32 insulatively mounted on arm 11 by means of the collar 33 of ber or other suitable material, when the signal is moved to its outermost operative position.

One contact of each of the lamps 23 is connected to the live pole of the battery .34 (see Fig. 5) by means of conductors 35 and 36. The other lcontact of each lamp'23 is joined to stud 32 by means of conductor 37. As the contact spring 31 is joined to the grounded pole of the battery through the frame of the v machine, a circuit is closed for one or the other of the lamps 23 whenever a contact stud In the drawings t e device is shown assembled for use on right hand side drive cars such as are common in Europe, as indicated .b the operating handles being at the right. 'Ille rod 18 and handle 15 not only form a link between handles 15 and 15 but also provides a handle which is at all times within convenient reach of the driver to operate the left signal. It will be noted also that this link connection operates to prevent the simultanes ous display of both signals. If one signal is displayed and the other vis extended without withdrawing the. rst one, the link 18 acts to automatically withdraw the previously extended arm.

In Fig. 4 is shown a license plate carrier 4() on which is mounted the tail light 41,'the stop light 42 and the direction signal lamps43 and 44. Referring now to Fig. 5 it will be noted that the lamps 43 and 44 are connected in parv allel with the right and lett lamps 23, respectively, so that, whenever a signal 23 is actuated the corresponding rear direction signal 43 or 44 isilluminated, thus providing an additional signal at the rear which should be visible in case the forwarddirection signal is hidden by the top of the car.

It is obvious that the deviceherein disclosed may be applied to a left hand drive car as the split sleeve connections between the hands 19, the housings 26 and the supporting parts permit the necessary adjustments of the parts to be made readily. i

While in the drawing and in the above de-4 scription but a single form of the device is disclosed, it is to be understood thatvcertain modifications are contemplated and the invention, therefore, should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Havlng thus described the invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a direction signal for vehicles, a pair of independent oppositely laterally movable members, a signal at the outer end of each of said members, means for selectively moving said members to display the desired signal and means interconnecting the members, so that on projection of one the other will be automatically retracted.

2. In a direction indicator for vehicles, a pair of independently, movable signal arms, electric light bulbs, one at the outer end of each of saidx arms, means for selectively operatingsaid arms to ,project one or the other, circuits for said bulbs respectively, means for closing the circuit of a bulb when the corresponding arm is operated and means interconnectin said arms so that on projection of one the ot er will be automatically retracted and the circuit openedto its respective bulb.

3. In a direction indicator for vehicles, a

tubular member arranged transversely of the vehicle, a pair of lsignal arms independently movable longitudinally of said tubular member in opposite directions, a signal at the outer end of each ofv said arms, operating handles one assoclated wlth each of said arms for projecting or withdrawing said arms and means interconnecting said handles for the automatic retraction of one signal on the projection of the other. I

4. In a directlon lndicator for vehicles, a tubular body member arranged transversely of the vehicle, independently movable signal llO arms within said tubular member and slidable therein in opposite directions to project beyond the side of the vehicle, an electric light bulb carried at the outer end of each of said arms, electrical circuits for said bulbs respectively, means for selectively extending and withdrawing either of said arms, means associated with said-arms for closing the corresponding circuit when an arm is operated and means interconnecting said 'arms so that on projection of one arm its bulb will be illuminated and the other arm will be automatically retracted and its bulb extinguished.

5. In a direction signal for vehic.es, e tuvla bular bod member arran ed transversely of arm the other will be automatically retracted.4 6. In a direction signal for motor vehicles,

a body member arranged to be 'attached transversely to a motor vehicle adjacent to the instrument beard, laterally extensible signalarms slidably mounted on said body member, a signal a-t the outer end of each of said arms, and means interconnecting the arms, so that on the `rejection of one the other will be automatically retracted, each' said signal comprisin a member formed to represent a ha'nd wit the index finger ex tended, the central portion of said memberl being eut away to provide a similar hand shaped o en s ace, an incandescent light bulb within sai space and lenses of colored translucent material 'overlyingsaid space on op osite sides of said bulb.l

' In a direction signal for motor vehicles, a body member arranged to be attached transversely to a motor'vehicle adjacent to the instrument board,laterall'y extensible signal arms slidably mounted on said body member, a signal at the outer end of each of said arms, and means interconnecting the arms, so that on the pro'eetion of one the other will be automatica ly retracted, each said signal comprisino a member formed to represent a handwith the index finger extended, the central portion of said member being cut away to providea similar hand shaped open s ace, an incandescent light bulb within sai space and lenses of colored translucent material overlying said space on opposite sides of said bulb, the said lenses being of contrasting colors.

8. In a direction signal for motor vehicles a body member arranged uto be attached Itransversely to a motor vehicle adjacent to ving elements, and

.one the other will be automatica the instrument board, laterally extensible signal arms slidably mounted on said body member, a signal at the outer end of each of saidfarms, and means interconnecting the arms, so that on the other will be automatlcal y retracted, each said signal comprisin a member 4formed to representa hand 'wit the index finger extended, the central portion of said member being cut away to provide a similar hand shaped open space, an incandescent light bulb within said space, lenses of colored translucent material overlying said -space on opposite sidesof said bulb, an electric circuit for said light bulb and means for closinlg said circuit incident to extending its signa 9. In a direction signal for vehicles, a tubular member, a pair of independent 'o positely laterally movable members in sai tubular member, a signal at the outer end of cach of -said members, means for selectively moving said members to extend the desired signal, means for interconneetin the signals so that on the rejection of one he other will be automatical retracted, fan electric light bulb in each o said movable members circuits for said bulbs, respectively, each of said circuits including a stationary contact carried by said tubular member, and a movable contact carried by its respective movable member, means for adjusting the position of said contacts on. said tubular member, and

- stops, one on each movable member cooperating with its said stationary contact member for limiting the outward movement of the corresponding movable member.

10. In a dlrection signal, housings adapted to be located exterrorly and' at op osite sides of a vehicle, illuminating si na elements normally concealed within t e house ings and adapted to be projected therefrom, means :for selectively projecting said signalinterconnectlons between the selective means so that on rejection oi 1y retracted.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

e BENJAMIN A. CRENSHAW.

projlection of one the.

arm.l 

